When was vernon dahmer born

Vernon grabbed a rifle and shot back at the assailants from within the inferno as his family escaped, suffering severe burns to his head, arms, and upper body. Lyndon B. Johnson launched a federal investigation into the crime, leading to the arrests of fourteen Klansmen on arson and murder charges. One man entered a guilty plea and juries convicted four others. Vernon Dahmer remains a hero of the Mississippi black freedom struggle. He was severely burned about the head , face , arms , and upper body before he could escape.

His year-old daughter, Bettie, also suffered painful burns. The Dahmer home, grocery store, and car were destroyed. Dahmer died on January 11 , , from the effect of burns in his respiratory tract. The Hattiesburg area was stunned by the attack. Ralph Noonkester led a community effort to rebuild the Dahmer home. Local and state businesses such as the Masonite Corporation, Alexander Materials, and Frierson Building Materials donated materials, local unions donated their services, and students from the University of Southern Mississippi volunteered unskilled labor.

Authorities indicted fourteen men, most with Ku Klux Klan connections, for the attack on the Dahmer home. Thirteen were brought to trial, eight on charges of arson and murder. Four were convicted and one entered a guilty plea. In addition, eleven of the defendants were tried on federal charges of conspiracy to intimidate Dahmer because of his civil rights activities. Former Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers , who was believed to have ordered the murder, was tried four times, but each trial ended in a mistrial.

Based on new evidence, the state of Mississippi reopened the case and in tried Sam Bowers for the murder of Dahmer and assault on his family. Ellie Dahmer often answered the door for her husband, hoping that the Klan would hesitate before shooting a woman.

A guardian and protector until his last, Vernon fired shots at his attackers as his wife and children fled to safety. He died the next day in the hospital, his lungs scorched from the flames. Charles E. Cobb, Jr.

Sources Charles E.